SPEER

DOBSON — On Jan. 5, 2013, an angel came and relieved Dorothy April Whitaker Speer of all of her earthly pain; she had been called home to Heaven. Mrs. Dorothy Speer was born on April 27, 1930, in SurryCounty and passed away at Northern Hospital of Surry County in Mount Airy after a sudden illness. Dorothy and her late husband, Bobby Lee Speer, a retired tobacco farmer, lived in Surry County while raising six sons and two daughters. Dorothy was a cherished mother to eight children, and grandmother to 27 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. She will be missed deeply. She was preceded in death by Bobby Lee Speer, her husband; Carolyn Hutchens Speer, her daughter-in-law; Mike Speer, her son; Martha Casstevens, Gladys Jenkins, Ruth Hunt, Elizabeth Bledsoe, her sisters; Jim Whitaker, Ralph Whitaker, her brothers; two grandsons; a granddaughter; and James Martin Whitaker and Sarah Lou White Whitaker, her parents. Dorothy leaves behind eight loving children, Tommy Speer of Yadkinville, Eldon and Nancy Speer of Yadkinville, Carolyn and Russell Jones of Mount Airy, Ronnie Speer of Jonesville and special friend Sherry McCall also of Jonesville, Rex Speer of Yadkinville, Kathy Ownbey of Mount Airy and Betty Speer of Lowgap, Tim and Dianne Speer of Cana, Va., and Dorothy “Tiny” Speer of Mount Airy. Surviving Dorothy are three sisters and brothers-in-law, Grace and Vernon Mills of Thomasville, Roy and Betty Whitaker Walker of Dobson and Susie Norman of Dobson; and three brothers and sisters-in-law, Bill and Sue Whitaker of Archdale, Sam Whitaker of Thomasville and Phil and Brenda Whitaker of Elkin. She also leaves behind 16 grandsons and nine granddaughters; 11 great-grandsons and 20 great-granddaughters; two great-great-granddaughters and one great-great grandson. She leaves behind a large group of loved ones with broken hearts. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, in the Chapel of Moody-Davis Funeral Home in Dobson with burial to follow in the Speer Family Cemetery on Speer Road in Mount Airy. Brother Ralph Casstevens, the Rev. H. Gene Casstevens and the Rev. Robert Farmer will be conducting the funeral services. The family received friends at Moody-Davis Funeral Home on Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. Online condolences may be made at wwwmoodyfuneralservices.com.